Improved pulp-washer for paper-stock



, UNITED STATES'v PATENT OEEICE.

GEORGE ESCOL SELLERS, OF SELLERS LANDING, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVED PULP-WASHER FOR PAPER-STOCK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 46,030, dated January 24, 1865.'

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that l, GEORGE EsooL SEL- LEES, of Sellers Landing, Hardin county, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain Improvements in the Mode of Washing Pulp or Fiber for Paper-Stock, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to wash from ber or pulp any non-fibrous matter that may be mixed with or attached to the fiber or pulp in a cheaper and more thorough manner than has heretofore been done.

The nature of my invention consists in pass. ing the pulp or ber diluted or mixed with waterinto a centrifugal drainingmachine, so constructed that the water containing the noniibrous matter is passed through the meshes of the Wire-cloth, and a continuous supply of fresh water is furnished, the washed fiber being delivered from the machine while it is in motion.

To enable others skilled inthe art to usc my invention, I will describe the mode in which I employ it, referring to the annexed drawings', making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a sectional elevation; Fig. 2, a section through the line .or a. Fig. 3 .is a plan view of the drainer-cone with the inner or water cone raised out of place to show the constructionv of both cones, similar letters hav- :in g reference to similar parts.

A is a driving-pulley on shaft B, on which is hung an inverted conical centrifugal drainer Acomposed of ribs O O, lined within with perforated metal plates or tine wire-cloth a a a a.

D is a tube through which the pulp or stuit' is fedinto the conical drainer. This tube passes through and is attached to an inner metallic cone, E E, which is perforated, as shown at b b b. This inner cone lies above and within the wire-cloth cone above described, and is partially closed at the top, leaving the space F F around the outside ofthe tubeD open for the supply of fresh water to pass into this inner cone.

G G are win gs or fans that throw the stuff as received through the tube I) against the wirefcloth on the drainer.

His a circular' trough that surrounds the washer and receives the washed stuff as it is projected over the upper rim or edge of the dra-incr, and from which trough itis delivered through the pipe I.

J is a chamber surrounding the drainer tol receive the wash-water after it has passed through andfrom the stuffthatis being washed, and is conducted off through the pipe K.

L L is a cover to prevent the washed stuff from splashing over the trough H.

Having above described an apparatus such as I use, I will now proceed to describe the manner I operate with it on the disintegrated ber of cane, (I/lrzmdt'mm'z'a macrospermm) the same being applicable to any other fiberor pulp.

After the fiber has been thoroughly disintegrated, but still contains the non-ibrous matter in the mass, I dilute it with water in an ordinary stu-chest provided with agitators, by which it is thoroughly mixed and kept in suspension. Aftercausingtheconicaldrainer, together with its inner perforated watercone, to revolve with great velocity, I open a stop cock or valve and allow the diluted stuit' to run in a continuous stream from the stuft'- chcst into the feeding-tube l), through which it passes into the fans, and is driven upward and outward by centrifugal force against the conical wire-covered drainer. At the same time I run a stream of clean water through the opening F into the inner cone, from which it is distributed by jets with great force through the perforations, affording a fresh supply of clean Wash-water to the pulp or stuffas it rises on the Wire-cloth lining of the drainer, which, by its conical form and increasing diameter, causes the stuff to be spread thinner and thinner as it rises to the top rim, over which it is delivered into the trough H. The water in which the stuft' is held in suspension in the stuff-chest passes with great velocity through the meshes of the wire-cloth lining of the drainer, carrying with it large portions of the non-fibrous matter. As this Water is passed off, fresh supplies are furnished through the perforations ofthe inner cone with accelerated velocity as the diameter of the conical drainer increases. The water passing through the stuft that is spreading on and ascending the cone carries with it such non-fibrous matter as re- 'quires more force to detach and remove it from the ber than the force applied where the diluted stuff first strikes the Wire-cloth, and the clean Washed stuff is projected continuously over the rim into the receiving-trough, from which it is conducted, ready to be formed into paper. That the stuff may be delivered into thereceiving trough sufficiently diluted to flow from it, I make a row of perforations so high in the inner cone,'E, that the Water passing through them goes over with the stnffinstead of through the Wire-cloth.

Vhen the arundine (non-iibrous portion of cane) is to be saved for use, this process of washing is very important, as it carries ott' larger quantities of arundine in proportion to the Water, from which it has afterward to be separated, than any other mode of Washing heretofore practiced.

My mode of Washin g pulp differs essentially from the modes usually practiced by papermakers, which are continuous dilutions of the Wash-Water, never entirely passingit otf from the pulp, and requiring much greater qualitities of Water and longer time than my process )vithout as ei'eetually accompl shin g the Wash ing. l

Every experienced paper-maker knows the importance of Washing rags when in the state called half-stock before being reduced to pulp, and the dificulty and almost impossibility of thoroughly Washing pulp after killing pririters ink by boiling old printed paper in alkali. It takes from six to ten hours to Wash outtheinkin the ordinary heating and Washing engine, owing to the pulp forming a iilter that keeps back the non-fibrous matter.

Iexperienced great difficulty in Washing the arundine from disintegrated cane fiber until I adopted this process, the theory of which is diluting with Water the pulp to be Washed, keeping it and the material to be Washed from it in suspension by thorough agitation until the Water With such portions as can be passed vwith it through the meshes of the wire-cloth is drained oi with great velocity, then passing with increased force continuous streams ofwater through the pulp, spread so as to present the least possible iltering action to the material to be removed.

A very little experience teaches the amount ot' Water in which the stuff should be suspinded, the quantities of suspended stuff to admitinto the drainer, the amount of Wash- Water to be passed into the inner cone, and the velocity With which the drainer should be revolved, this latter being somewhat dependent on the steepness of the cone. I iind that a drainer of twenty-six inches in diameter at its upper rim, with the cone at an angle of about forty-ve degrees, run at a velocity of one thousand revolutions per minute, will Wash as much pulp as four ordinary beating-engines will prepare from rags.

I am not aware that the principle of centrifugal draining has ever been used for paperpulp. nor that the conical form has been used to thin out the material to be drained by spreadin git over an increasing surface, and by the increasing centrifugal force causing the material to rise and be continuously delivered over the top rim 5 nor that any device has been used to furnish a fresh supply of Wash-Water as the foul water has been drained off, thus appl ying the principle of the centrifuga-l drainer to an eii'ective Washing-machine.

Having fully described my process as to its object, nature, and theory of operation, whatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

VVashing pulp or fiber for paper-stock by submitting it to the action of a centrifugal drainer, so arranged as to permit the stuff to pass over the draining-surface in a gradually thinning sheet, and to be Washed by a continuous stream of water passing through it, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

GEO. ESGOL SELLERS.

Witnesses:

LoUrs T. DENNIs, F. C. DENNIS. 

